Spring's approach captures Silicon Valley's sunshine and optimism—the clear air, the seed planting, the lengthening days. Counterintuitively, we used to publish Metro's Best of Silicon Valley issue just as the damp, darkening days of winter clamped down during the greedy season of harvest and hunkering down, which didn't really fit our region's forward-looking ethos.
So it was time for reinvention. That's why we moved the publication date from September to March.

An issue that celebrates the good stuff around us is a good way to start the year off right. Like buying a new car at the beginning of the model year, readers can enjoy the issue longer and winners can display the current year's honors for more than a few months. (Memo to business owners: it's time to take down the certificates from defunct publications.)

This year we added a new section, a Hall of Fame, to honor perennial winners like DJ Greg Kihn and chef David Kinch, whose domination of their categories forced us to retire their jerseys.

"Best Of" issues have become increasingly popular since we launched the valley's first one more than 25 years ago. In the last two years alone, reader participation in online voting has more than tripled.

The results now represent an even greater cross-section of Metro's readers (a very smart and discerning group, we might add). Whether it's breakfast at Bill's, coffee at Philz or hamachi shots at Alexander's, they know where to find the best that the valley offers, along with hidden gems tucked in the strip malls along the grand boulevards.

Please visit the winners and let us know your thoughts, either by writing us at letters@metronews.com or posting a comment to our page at metrofb.com.